Elkhart Lake - WI (August 21st, 2006) After a day filled with misfortune at Road America yesterday, Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz has its sights set on a change of luck when the American Le Mans Series heads across the border for the Mosport round of the championship in two week's time.
The two Panoz Esperante GTLM machines finished 8th and 9th in class at Road America after a drama filled day which left both the #50 car of David Brabham and Scott Maxwell and the #51 machine of Gunnar Jeanette and Tom Milner nine laps adrift of the GT2 class winner.
Brabham's problems began on the opening lap when his engine began to misfire in top gear. The problem robbed the #50 car of straight-line speed and to make matters worse – the Australian ace was unable to communicate the problem to the Multimatic Panoz crew due to a radio malfunction.
The #50 car pitted at the first yellow flag period after 27 minutes, but the team were unable to find the source of the problem which was gradually getting worse with each lap.
After a long safety car period, Tom Milner charged into the GT2 class lead on the restart, passing the Porsche of Mike Rockenfeller.
However, his moment of glory at the front of the pack was relatively short lived. Milner had dropped back to 4th after nine minutes but then had contact with the #61 Ferrari of Toni Vilander at Canada corner – forcing the Panoz off into the gravel trap.
Milner limped the #51 car back to pit lane and the team faced a lengthy 18-minute stop to repair damage to the car before Gunnar Jeannette was able to rejoin the race – several laps adrift.
The team's fortunes were not getting much better for the #50 car. Brabham pitted after 72 minutes and handed over to Maxwell while the Multimatic Panoz crew spent four minutes trying to find the source of the misfire.
Both Maxwell and Jeannette charged on during the middle period of the race but neither was able to peg back the time lost from the unscheduled lengthy stops.
Jeannette returned to the pits after two hours and eight minutes for Milner to climb back aboard but disaster struck shortly after for Maxwell when the #50 car broke a throttle cable.
Fortunately for the Canadian, the car was stuck on idle and Maxwell was able to get the car back to pit lane. Swift work by the Panoz crew pushed the car back out on track after a six-minute stop.
Both cars made it to the checkered flag – nine laps adrift of GT2 class winners, the Petersen Motorsport/White Lightning Racing Porsche of Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long.
The Toronto-based Multimatic squad now intends to test at its home circuit at Mosport prior to the forthcoming round of the American Le Mans Series at the former home of the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix.
